PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two men are dead and another one is injured after a shooting in the Argay Terrace neighborhood early Saturday morning, according to police.
Around 1:47 a.m., Portland police arrived at Northeast 131st Place and found three men who had been shot.
Officials said one of the men had already succumbed to his wounds. The other two were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of the men later died. The surviving man has non-life threatening injuries.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Shaye Samora at Shaye.Samora@portlandoregon.gov 503-823-0768 or Detective Erik Kammerer at Erik.Kammerer@portlandoregon.gov 503-823-0762.
Northeast 131st Avenue was closed between Northeast Sandy Boulevard and Northeast Prescott Drive while the investigation was underway.
Focused Intervention Team coming soon
“There is no argument that gun violence right now is a huge problem in the city of Porltand and I can say that the officers and detectives and all of us at the PPB, we want to see it end as much as anyone,” Sgt. Kevin Allen told KOIN 6 News. “It’s a huge problem right now and we want to see it solved and we have a plan in place to do our part to try to address it.”
That plan is to deploy the Focused Intervention Team.
“We have got the Focused Intervention Team coming,” Allen said. “Those officers are getting ready to transfer to this new team and they will undergo some extra training. Then they will hit the street here next month.”
Allen is aware the FIT is not going to fix everything.
“We are talking about basically 12 officers and a couple sergeants. They aren’t going to be able to fix this overnight,” he said. “But we know that we play a role in addressing gun violence and we feel like this is a good start.”